Downtown Sprinkler Program

                                          Outline

The Downtown Lawrence Fire Protection Sprinkler System Incentive Program (Downtown Sprinkler Program) is a proactive safety program aimed at getting fire protection sprinkler systems into downtown buildings.  The Sprinkler Program will encourage downtown building and business owners to install new sprinkler systems and/or upgrade existing systems through a combination of direct reimbursements and cost sharing mechanisms.

The Sprinkler Program has four (4) basic components:

1. Tap Incentive
2. System Installation Reimbursement Incentive
3. Building Prioritization
4. Program Implementation

The Downtown Sprinkler Program includes all buildings within the Downtown Urban Conservation Overlay District.

1. Tap Incentive:

All buildings, not currently served by a fire protection sprinkler system and for which no existing tap serves the building, are eligible to receive a fire protection service tap for a flat fee of $3,000 provided that the building owner agrees to install a full fire protection sprinkler system throughout the building.  A single tap (and the requisite service tap fee) may be shared by multiple buildings provided that the building owners sign a Fire Protection System Cross Connection Agreement and subject to the review and approval of the City.

2. System Installation Reimbursement Incentive:

All buildings not currently protected by a full fire protection sprinkler system are eligible to receive reimbursement for up to 75% of the cost of installing or upgrading a fire protection sprinkler system throughout the building.  Upon inspection of the system and review of invoices for work completed and paid by the building owner, the City will reimburse the building owner for 75% of the actual cost of the system up to a maximum reimbursement of:

$25,000 per building with up to 25’ of frontage,

$10,000 per additional 25’ of frontage ($400 per frontage foot),

$5,000 per additional story ($1,000 per mezzanine requiring separate sprinkling).

Note:  The City may, at its discretion, agree to pay a Contractor directly in the event that all requisite work is complete and the Contractor indicates that the building owner’s ultimate financial obligation under the terms of this program have been received in full.

3. Building Prioritization and Selection:

Applications for the program must be received by 5:00 pm, Friday March 2, 2007.  Eligible buildings will be evaluated based on a prioritization formula (See the attached Detailed Explanation, page 3 of 3) until all available funds have been earmarked.  All applicants will be notified by March 16, 2007 regarding the status of their application.  In the event that funds are available after all applicants are included in the program, additional applications will be received and processed on a first come first served basis starting March 5, 2007.

4. Program Implementation:

• Building or business owner should review this outline and the Downtown Sprinkler Program Agreement.
• Building or business owners who wish to participate in the program should complete a Downtown Sprinkler Program Application and submit it by March 2, 2007 to:

Attn:  Kevin Doyle

City Hall

PO Box 708

6^th East 6^th Street

Lawrence, KS 66044

• Owners of selected buildings will be required to submit three (3) sprinkler system installation estimates from licensed contractors along with a completed Downtown Sprinkler Program Agreement.
• The building owner and/or the selected contractor will be responsible for obtaining a building permit; however the application fee will be waived.
• Tap installation will be coordinated with the building owner and or the building tenant.
• The building owner will pay the City $3,000 for the service tap.
• The tap installation work will be performed by the City
• The sprinkler system will be installed, inspected and tested.
• The building owner will pay the contractor, in full, for all installation costs and will provide the City with a receipt or a copy of the final invoice indicating payment.
• The City will reimburse the owner (or pay the Contractor directly, as indicated above) for the installation cost as described above.

Building Prioritization (Detailed Explanation):

The primary criteria for prioritizing buildings for the Sprinkler Program is safety – safety of the building occupants, safety of the general public, and safety of Emergency personnel responding to a building fire.  With that in mind, downtown buildings were assessed in each of the following five categories and assigned a value between one and four for each (1 = lowest need, 2 = higher need, etc.). 

a. Existing Fire Sprinkler System Assessment (SA)

i. 1 = Partial Sprinkler System (w/ no modifications required)

ii. 2 = Partial Sprinkler System (w/ modifications required)

iii. 3 = No Sprinkler System

b. Building Assessment (BA)

i. 1 = No Basement

ii. 2 = Basement

c. Use Assessment (UA)

i. 1 = Building has no upstairs tenants

ii. 2 = Building has upstairs tenants

iii. 3 = Assembly Space within building

d. Address Assessment (AA)

i. 1 = Non Massachusetts  Street, non adjacent to Massachusetts Street address

ii. 2 = Massachusetts Street address, adjacent to Massachusetts Street address

e. Qualitative Assessment (QA)

i. 1 = Low (Non-Contributing Structure)

ii. 2 = Medium (Potentially Contributing Structure)

iii. 3 = High (Contributing Structure)

The first four categories are generally safety related.  Buildings that need a sprinkler system or need their existing system modified are assessed a higher value than those that do not.  Fires in structures with basements are more difficult and more dangerous to fight than fires in those without basements.  Fires in buildings with upper floor tenants (especially residential tenants) are more life-threatening than fires in buildings with a single commercial use.  Finally, the proximity and density of structures on Massachusetts is greater than that on adjacent streets; therefore the complexity of fighting a fire and the potential that a fire will spread to adjacent buildings is higher for Massachusetts Street buildings.

The qualitative assessment is based on the historic character of the structure.  This category is used to credit buildings for their contribution to the Downtown Historic District pursuant to guidelines used by the Historic Resources Administrator.

The scoring outlined above will be used to establish an initial prioritization of applications.  Based on the initial prioritization of applications, and any other relevant factors which may be set forth in applications, staff will make recommendations on which properties should be funded for partial reimbursement with the budgeted 2007 funds.